Kindly Saints smile on battered New Orleans

DRIVE in any direction in this ravaged town and you'll witness
what the New Orleans Saints have experienced.

Walkways to homes that no longer exist. "Do not demolish"
warnings spray-painted on the walls of vacant houses, or worse, a
numeral reflecting the number of bodies found inside. People living
in hundreds of emergency trailers where neighbourhoods once
flourished.

They're still digging out from Hurricane Katrina, but alongside
almost every generator-powered trailer flies a black-and-gold
Saints flag. The familiar fleur-de-lis is the new symbol of hope.
But nobody needs to remind the Saints.

"There are some things that don't need to be said," coach Sean
Payton said. "These guys understand the importance of this team to
this community."

Today, nearly 17 months after Hurricane Katrina battered the
Gulf Coast, the franchise once dubbed the "Aints" by its own
frustrated fans plays in its first National Football Championship
game. Win it , and they're in the Superbowl.

New Orleans' resurgence, the team and the town, continues in
Chicago against the Bears. Back home, where the Saints' remarkable
roll started with a Monday night win at the Superdome  ground
zero for post-Katrina desperation and despair.

"Everywhere you go, people come up and say, 'Thank you for being
here. Thank you for winning.' And I'm like, 'No, thank you',"
linebacker Scott Fujita said. "They're giving a lot of us
hope."

Last season, the Saints limped through a 3-13 season, playing
"home" games throughout the country because of the damage to the
Superdome. But a new season brought renewed optimism, a renovated
home ground and a new coach.

The new coach hired new players. It wasn't easy  how do
you convince players used to the high life that a disaster zone is
a place they'd want to live?

Coach Payton's biggest sales pitch went to Drew Brees  a
Pro Bowl quarterback in San Diego. Brees was recovering from a
shoulder injury so serious that some teams wondered about his
future. In the Saints, he saw the only team that believed he could
bounce back.

Then the Saints got lucky in the NFL draft. When the Houston
Texans inexplicably passed on running back Reggie Bush, the Saints
grabbed him with the second pick.

The Saints got off to a 5-1 start, survived a mid-season slump,
then won four of their last six games to clinch the NFC's second
seed for the play-offs.

The highlight of their 10-6 season was the 23-3 win over Atlanta
on September 25  the first game in the Superdome since
Katrina.

The Saints sold out that game and every other home game, and
there's already a waiting list for season tickets for next
year.

"From the first time we stepped onto the field as a team, it has
been a rallying point for us," Bush said. "We've always talked
about doing this for the city of New Orleans and playing for them
and fighting for them and winning for them."

Kevin Foltz, a captain in the Slidell police department, knows
what the fleur-de-lis means to the area. "You see all the
devastation and it really brings you down," Foltz said.

"Except on Sundays. On Sundays, you sit down and watch the
Saints and you forget about all that for a while."